The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1887-11-05
Specta1 Contributors.
THE TIME ELEMENT IN MISSION
AIRY MOTIVE.
BY REV. S. CRANE, d. D.
(Galesburg, Ill.)

Doubtless the element of time enters
into the motive of every human enter
prise. When we have anything to do,
the question, chow long" is one of the
first questions we ask. And the answer
given to this question has much to do
in determining whether or not we will
undertake to do that thing. If the time
is too short or too long it will tend to
deter US. If you ask man to build a
house in a single day, he says no, the
time is too short. If you ask him to
build it in a hundred years, he says,
no, the time is too long; 1 shall not
live to finish it. But if you ask him to
take time enough, but to build it as
soon as he can, the time is satisfactory
and he undertakes the work. Thus
time is very important element in the
motive of every undertaking. 1t must
be so, therefore, in the missionary mo-
tive. If the church is commanded to
preach the gospel to every creature,
the question how long it has to do this
work in, is very important.
Without doubt the conviction is deep
ening in the minds of all Christians,
that the church has work to do in Sc
curing the salvation of the world. The
old notion that this matter is all settled
by divine decree is becoming obsolete.
Few Christians hold that any longer.
About all have come to feel that man
has work to do in saving the world,
and that if the world is saved, he must
do his work as well as God his. Hence
the Importance that now attaches to
the question of time. Indeed, this is
the question of the hour. All the con-
troversy concerning missions revolves
around the matter of time. How much
time has the church to do its work, in
the salvation of the world, is the bot
tom question in all this controversy.
One party says it has only from the
cradle to the grave. The other says it
has in addition long time beyond the
grave; that its time is not limited by
death, but extends beyond death, long
enough for it to do all that can be done
for the salvation of the world.
And the question is how do these
opinions concerning the time affect the
missionary motive On one side it is
held that to limit the time by death is
to put nerve into missions, and to ex-
tend it beyond death, is ''to cut the nerve
of Missions On the other it is held
that to extend the time beyond death
has no such effect, while to limit it by
death tends rather to paralyze effort.
Now it seems quite clear that the effect
of the length Of time given upon the
missionary motive depends very much
on our view of the magnitude of the
work to be done. If we understand
that it is the duty of Christians to save
the world, to literally carry the gospel
to every creature, then to limit the
time to this life is clearly to paralyze
the motive. We say at once that the
time is too short. Such work cannot
be done in this short life. TO preach
the gospel to every creature before
death is impossible If, therefore, we
are required to do this, we may as we'll
give up in despair. 1t is very clear
then that with this view Of the magni-
tude OF the work, the tendency of linn
iting the time to this life, is to weaken
the missionary motive.
But if it be held that all that is re-
qured of US is to save all we can, to
preach the gospel to all we can in the
time given, then to limit the time to
death, will very likely strengthen the
motive. If We feel that it is not ours
to save the world, but only to pluck
as many souls as possible, as brands
from the burning" then to limit the
time to this life, will very likely move
us to greater activity. We will say the
time is short and the danger great, let
US, therefore do all we can.
AS the beginning of modern missions
this was, undoubtedly, the view taken.
No one dreamed then that Christian
ity contemplated the salvation of the
world, or that Christians were under
any obligations to literally preach the
gospel to every creature" All that
they thought was required Of them, was
to "rescue" from the "perishing" all
they could before death, and so they